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09 October 2008

Some of the conversations I had in Bangkok were animated and possibly circular. While I was obviously impressed with the stature and glow of The Golden Buddha, someone else was impressed with my bag and wanted to know what was inside.

While they did not succeed in getting anything out of it, they did leave an impressive slit in the end panel. It is a nice sturdy bag I bought at Browns Bay Craft Market in Auckland. I like it so will put one of Thailand's expert tailors on to repairing it when I get to Chaing Mai.

The conversation at the temple was between my driver and the temple security. The guards were not bothered. Just curious. My driver, Sut, a devout Buddhist, was indignant that such a thing could happen in a temple. While He did not speak much English at all, his feelings were obvious. He was a little embarrassed. He bought me a booklet at the Grand Palace so I could take back to my family to tell them something good of Bangkok. I've taken photos of the gardens for my dad. Amazing!

I saw the foot police in conversation with ignorant westerners if they even hinted at showing the bottoms of their feet to the Emerald Buddha.

And then finally, I saw a platform of Buddhist priests, clad in orange, chanting in conversation and unison.

I'm thinking that someone in Bangkok should have some conversations about indicators when turning in traffic. Everyone is very polite, so I saw no crashes, or riots, but how everyone knows what everyone else is doing and when sure baffled me. Good thing I was in the back seat.

I loved the countdown timers at intersections, on all phases of the lights, so everyone would know to be patient just a little bit longer. Excellent idea. I'll upload a photo when I can.